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[Buggy Loop]

this game has some of the best level design I’ve seen in a very long time

Tailored made map full of approaches and made for parkour, I don't think I've ever seen a made so well designed in an RPG to be honest, at least that matches the gameplay that is very exploration/secret focused.

Still on first map so I can't say if it keeps up all the time, but so far, impeccable map design.

Makes Witcher 3 open world bloat with 10,000 chests icon on a map feel boring in comparison.

Also at night time I couldn't quite put my finger on a game that also had "bright" nighttime until it came back to me, Thief 3 deadly shadows

Goes into blue/purple tint from skylight rather than going pure darkness.

 

[Diseased Yak]

There are companion quests? That is good to hear.

Yes sir. Don't know if they're missable or not, but I just keep talking to everyone when I camp if they have a dialog notification above them and found Kai's that way. I'm just assuming the rest have them as well, as they all have some sort of baggage being hinted at. I remember from Skill-Up's review he said something about not finding out about Marius until late in the game so I guess they trigger at different points.

 

[Luipadre]

I must say they really took the feedback to heart about the combat. It feels pretty awesome

 

[Orbital2060]

Wow big difference in how tactile the game feels on performance versus quality, on the X.

I forgot to check since starting up, and changing it to performance now made the game feel a LOT better to play. For me, at least. I guess YMMV. And it still looks great.

 

[Chukhopops]

The second area at night is just phenomenal, gave me flashbacks from The Burning Crusade (aka peak WoW). It really looks like a mix of Zangarmarsh (glowing mushrooms and stuff) and Terokkar (the white forest with undead).

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

Does me playing on a harder difficulty increase npc prices? I’ve noticed the vendor prices are higher than the prices I see in people‘s YouTube videos.

 

[Majukun]

Game does not even start on my laptop, getting error 0xc0000005.
Might be time to buy a new rig, but pc gaming has become so expensive....

 

[DragonNCM]

I have 8 hours and prob only a third of the first map. Wtf. This is not a 30 hour game

Definitely not ! (If you are exploring everything)

 

[adamsapple]

I appreciate the game letting me put points in the Magic skills so I am able to use the higher level spells without needing to be a mage build. Spec-ing up as a Warrior class but my secondary loadout is a mage's tome for the freeze and fire spells to clear those obstacles where necessary.

Haven't felt the need to do dual wielding weapons so far, the classic shield + sword combo seems to be working out well enough. Shield bash and the rush abilities are pretty OP.

 

[BigLee74]

About 6 hours in and really enjoying this so far. The first area is huge and full of stuff to find. I liken it to a more condensed Skyrim, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Kai is quite a funny dude too!

Might increase the difficulty though. I chickened out and put it on easy, and it is…well…easy. Might don the big boy pants and step up to normal .

 

[adamsapple]

About 6 hours in and really enjoying this so far. The first area is huge and full of stuff to find. I liken it to a more condensed Skyrim, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Kai is quite a funny dude too!

Might increase the difficulty though. I chickened out and put it on easy, and it is…well…easy. Might don the big boy pants and step up to normal .

Kai is basically Garrus. Instead of a bird-like-alien-humanoid, he's a fish-like-humanoid.

 

[Shaki12345]

This game and thread convinced me to replay Mass Effect. Not really a RPG kind of guy but love the Witcher 3, Deus Ex HR/MD and Mass Effect. Scifi and more realistic vibes are my thing.

I love the world design and especially the graphics on Series X but all the fantasy elements and micro management of things (skills, Inventory) isn't my cup of tea. The games I mentioned also have this but to a lesser degree and their world and atmosphere is just next level. Had to try Avowed because of all the buzz but the game is too big too just try. You either commit or you don't. After 3.5 hours I think I've seen enough. I also don't feel anything for the lore yet. It really has to grab me to put 50 hours+ into something.

I do see the quality and I'm happy for those wanting a nice RPG. This seems like a great game.

 

[Orbital2060]

Kai is a pretty good tank, think Im gonna max that out so I can focus on damage mostly. Sword and board plus the bow as secondary. The parry skill has become invaluable since its got a generous parry window and opens the enemy up for massive damage. And Ive dropped the dreams of being a wizard - for now and equipped the steel garrotte breastplate that dropped from one of the early bosses, the spider in the dungeon under west of Paradis I think. It tanks your stamina but the Armor Graca fighter skill gives you + 15 stamina for wearing medium and heavy armor so its not too bad. And then respec to wizard later on, with some more points to get to the grimoir right away.

 

[bender]

Makes Witcher 3 open world bloat with 10,000 chests icon on a map feel boring in comparison.

I went to every question mark on the map and dragged every dropped item back to a vendor to sell because I hate myself. They probably patched it but there was a bug that reset your gold once you got past ~72,000.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Path of the Damned difficulty is some bullshit. Ranged attacks take half your health bar away. I'll finish the first zone and decide whether to tune the difficulty down

 

[adamsapple]

A couple of more QoL things in the game I really appreciate.

- you can send anything in your inventory to the camp stash anytime, which means even though there's a weight limit, you will never get encumbered cause you can just send stuff to your camp.

- you get essentially a free 'revive' from the start with a cool down timer, not a skill you have to unlock.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

About 6 hours in and really enjoying this so far. The first area is huge and full of stuff to find. I liken it to a more condensed Skyrim, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Kai is quite a funny dude too!

Might increase the difficulty though. I chickened out and put it on easy, and it is…well…easy. Might don the big boy pants and step up to normal .

Yeah I'd turn it on up if you want. I started on hard and bumped to Path of the Damned because there still wasn't much happening. While I do die now if I'm not careful with groups, it's nothing like the difficulty in the Pillars games on that setting.

 

[GillXSeed1013]

I am really enjoying this game so far, but the surprising thing is, I fully expected the writing and player choice to carry the game but it's actually the opposite, the combat and exploration seem to be the games strengths, it's really strange coming from Obsidian.

I haven't had time to scour this thread thoroughly, but it seems there's a lot of negativity surrounding this game in general which is a shame, it's a super solid 8 that's very much worth the time imo.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Oh boy .. I'm making some questionable decisions for my 'god', hope it doesn't end up biting me in the butt later in the game.

Spoiler

Just killed a fellow godlike, handed the statue he was making for *his* god to *my* god even after my companion showed his reservation against the whole thing.

There's several outcomes to that quest, I saved right before the decision and checked them all:

Spoiler

You can fight the godlike right away, keeping the relic and/or giving it to the embassy
-I'm not sure if there are any future consequences for this but you can:
-say it doesn't belong to them, or lie and say you don't have the relic, thus keeping it.
-tell them you might have the relic but you want some reward for it, can do this twice with enough stats
-then you can either give the relic, which makes them happy and say they will be regarded as heroes
-OR you say you keep the relic anyway and basically rip them off for the extra rewards, they get upset but figure they can't do anything about it since you only answer to -the emperor; kai voices he's a bit disappointed with you ripping them off like that lol.
You can go along with his plan, then if you have enough intellect/perception, or the scholar background, talk him out of it, he then just leaves and you can still get his equipment.
You can have him kill himself
You can have him let you kill yourself, which gets you an achievement.
You can let the voice take the statue.
You can deny the voice the statue and then leave it.
You can deny the voice the statue and then destroy it.
You can give the voice the statue and then destroy it, this has the same outcome as denying and destroying but it's a bit funnier tbh.

 

[Romulus]

Yeah the consensus of user reviews across the forums is the mainstream reviews were off. Not that they slammed the game but gamers are loving it. I agree.

 

[adamsapple]

Yeah the consensus of user reviews across the forums is the mainstream reviews were off. Not that they slammed the game but gamers are loving it. I agree.

It's been a solid 8.5~ game for me so far.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

It's funny there's a quite a bit of choices that allow you to just be a complete backstabbing rat bastard lol.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Yeah the consensus of user reviews across the forums is the mainstream reviews were off. Not that they slammed the game but gamers are loving it. I agree.

It has a 78% on Steam. Gamers are enjoying it, but this probably won't be a game like Prey or Ghost of Tsushima, where the majority of gamers agree the critics got it wrong

And an 80mc isn't bad at all. Lies of P, Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong all reviewed around there. Avowed fits in well with those games, imo. It is a good low budget AAA game that is punching above it's weight

Avowed can be improved in so many ways, It's hard to argue scoring it above an 8.5

 

[Shaki12345]

It has a 78% on Steam. Gamers are enjoying it, but this probably won't be a game like Prey or Ghost of Tsushima, where the majority of gamers agree the critics got it wrong

And an 80mc isn't bad at all. Lies of P, Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong all reviewed around there. Avowed fits in well with those games, imo. It is a good low budget AAA game that is punching above it's weight

Avowed can be improved in so many ways. It's hard to argue scoring it above an 8.5

This is not a low budget game.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

This is not a low budget game.

I think he just means on the lower side of AAA budgets.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

This is not a low budget game.

It is for a AAA game. Something like 100 devs worked on it. Probably cost 50-75mil

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I originally hated the look and layout of the second area but it’s really grown on me. And I’ve probably only revealed maybe 30% of the map. Just like the first area, the level design when you get into dungeons and quest areas is really good and really takes advantage of the parkour type movement.

Also enjoying the main story a bit more. The writing has been the weakest part of the game so far for me. It’s not like it’s bad, it’s just not my cup of tea. There’s tons of depth and detail and lore but I just can’t find much I care about. The companion dialogue is all extremely good though.

I feel sorry for the people who have been playing this and looking for reasons to be disappointed. What a horrible way to experience games.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I originally hated the look and layout of the second area but it’s really grown on me. And I’ve probably only revealed maybe 30% of the map. Just like the first area, the level design when you get into dungeons and quest areas is really good and really takes advantage of the parkour type movement.

Also enjoying the main story a bit more. The writing has been the weakest part of the game so far for me. It’s not like it’s bad, it’s just not my cup of tea. There’s tons of depth and detail and lore but I just can’t find much I care about. The companion dialogue is all extremely good though.

I feel sorry for the people who have been playing this and looking for reasons to be disappointed. What a horrible way to experience games.

Do we know how many zones there are? 3 or 4?

 

[adamsapple]

Looks like I'm ready to head to the second zone now. The first zone is around the same size as the first big planet in Outer Worlds but it's far more densely occupied. Lots of verticality, caves, ruins etc. Environments feel like they had some genuine care and not just made as land-masses to occupy space.

So far I'm enjoying my time with the game. Some parting screens for the night.


1. Again, not the biggest land mass but very densely packed with a lot of things to do and find.

2. Some of the interiors and caves etc look fantastic. Almost like concept art in real time.

3. My current primary weapon, just need a few more things to upgrade it to the max in its current quality tier.

4. My protag and armor (medium transmogged to look like this sleeve-less light armor). Bit of a Scar-Jo look going on here.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

It has a 78% on Steam. Gamers are enjoying it, but this probably won't be a game like Prey or Ghost of Tsushima, where the majority of gamers agree the critics got it wrong

And an 80mc isn't bad at all. Lies of P, Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong all reviewed around there. Avowed fits in well with those games, imo. It is a good low budget AAA game that is punching above it's weight

Avowed can be improved in so many ways, It's hard to argue scoring it above an 8.5

Its not just about scores.

For example, if you watch Skillups review. He will actively try to dissuade you from trying the game. Same for gamespot review.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

Its not just about scores.

For example, if you watch Skillups review. He will actively try to dissuade you from trying the game. Same for gamespot review.

Good thing it counts as one review amongst 100+ reviews. It's not hard to see why someone would not like this game, especially if you really enjoy past Obsidian games. The story is iffy, the characters are not very interesting, and the cities are completely lifeless. If you don't connect with the combat, you will not like this game. It's pretty janky too, but so is every 1st person melee game. Enemy animations could certainly be improved, tho

I'm really enjoying it, but it is clearly not a game for everybody

 

[Romulus]

It has a 78% on Steam. Gamers are enjoying it, but this probably won't be a game like Prey or Ghost of Tsushima, where the majority of gamers agree the critics got it wrong

And an 80mc isn't bad at all. Lies of P, Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong all reviewed around there. Avowed fits in well with those games, imo. It is a good low budget AAA game that is punching above it's weight

Avowed can be improved in so many ways, It's hard to argue scoring it above an 8.5

I never mentioned steam or compared it to another game, especially not games with way more reviews.

And even since you made this post, it's up to 79% on Steam. That's definitely a limited metric though so its sort of irrelevant to my point.

It definitely needs some patches etc but pretty much any game of this size will.

 

[adamsapple]

Kai after meeting a short stature character "I've got a few inches to spare ... if she changes her mind"

They've deliberately written Kai to be as similar to Garrus as possible .. and I am all for it. Garrus was ultimate space bro, now Kai looks to be the ultimate Living Lands bro.

 

[Fess]

Good thing it counts as one review amongst 100+ reviews. It's not hard to see why someone would not like this game, especially if you really enjoy past Obsidian games. The story is iffy, the characters are not very interesting, and the cities are completely lifeless. If you don't connect with the combat, you will not like this game. It's pretty janky too, but so is every 1st person melee game. Enemy animations could certainly be improved, tho

I'm really enjoying it, but it is clearly not a game for everybody

The combat is really good imo, surprisingly so, didn’t like how it looked in videos pre-release. Means I can forgive a bunch of other things. Take a game like Elden Ring, the story is a confusing mess and npcs are completely static, no conversation choices, lip sync sucks, etc. Still the best game of all time.
Avowed ain’t coming close to that but I’m enjoying my time so far, combat and traversal are the big positives for me.

 

[Buggy Loop]

15 hours in and I'm still in the first area with a ton of quests and exploration to make

This game came at a good time honestly. There's games like that where it just reinvigorate the pleasure of playing games. The combat has be hooked.

Dual pistols btw, fucking insane, literally this build

 

[coachmcguirk91]

The combat is really good imo, surprisingly so, didn’t like how it looked in videos pre-release. Means I can forgive a bunch of other things. Take a game like Elden Ring, the story is a confusing mess and npcs are completely static, no conversation choices, lip sync sucks, etc. Still the best game of all time.
Avowed ain’t coming close to that but I’m enjoying my time so far, combat and traversal are the big positives for me.

I actually feel like the heavy story elements hurts Avowed. I'm just not vibing with anything other than combat and exploration. Really high fantasy stuff like this doesn't interest me in general, tbf. I would probably prefer if Avowed was just a straight up action RPG like Elden Ring, especially with its lack of RPG depth. Elden Rings story is non-existent but it's world building is S tier. It's just done through it's fantastic art direction and music

 

[vaibhavpisal]

It's not hard to see why someone would not like this game, especially if you really enjoy past Obsidian games. The story is iffy, the characters are not very interesting, and the cities are completely lifeless. If you don't connect with the combat, you will not like this game. It's pretty janky too, but so is every 1st person melee game. Enemy animations could certainly be improved, tho

I'm really enjoying it, but it is clearly not a game for everybody

I am a Obsidian fan.

Writing, story etc in this is just like their past work.

Am enjoying those aspects.

I actually feel like the heavy story elements hurts Avowed. I'm just not vibing with anything other than combat and exploration. Really high fantasy stuff like this doesn't interest me in general, tbf. I would probably prefer if Avowed was just a straight up action RPG like Elden Ring, especially with its lack of RPG depth. Elden Rings story is non-existent but it's world building is S tier. It's just done through it's fantastic art direction and music

How does it not have RPG depth?

I haven’t played it enough but apparently you can side with antagonist, betray the empire that sent you, etc. Thats role playing depth, play the role you want.

 

[coachmcguirk91]

I am a Obsidian fan.

Writing, story etc in this is just like their past work.

Am enjoying those aspects.


How does it not have RPG depth?

I haven’t played it enough but apparently you can side with antagonist, betray the empire that sent you, etc. Thats role playing depth, play the role you want.

I'm mostly done with first area, but the game doesn't give you much variety of how you tackle quests. Based on reviews and my experience so far, the RPG elements show up mostly in dialogue. The decisions I have made that have effected gameplay is kill this NPC or let them live. The world certainly doesn't react to the decisions you make, that is for damn sure. It's much more streamlined than TOW

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I'm mostly done with first area, but the game doesn't give you much variety of how you tackle quests. Based on reviews and my experience so far, the RPG elements show up mostly in dialogue. The decisions I have made that have effected gameplay is kill this NPC or let them live. The world certainly doesn't react to the decisions you make, that is for damn sure. It's much more streamlined than TOW

This is how RPG elements work is story based RPGs.

If you want world changing RPGs, try sim style RPGs like Skyrim or KCD2.

 

[RPS37]

Still addicted.
Trying to play as a Ranger/Red Mage.
Maining arquebus/wand + axe.

 

[Topher]

Grinding through a bunch of Paradis sidequests and bounties. Those are fun. So I made enemies with an entire section of the town....

Spoiler

....and now I can't go there without being attacked. Apparently this is unavoidable which is a little disappointing. What is the point of character attribute checks if it doesn't matter and the results will be the same no matter what? So I ended up killing every one in that gang in that section of Paradis. I'd rather not have checks like that if the outcome is already determined.

 

[Topher]

This game needs a photo mode

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Grinding through a bunch of Paradis sidequests and bounties. Those are fun. So I made enemies with an entire section of the town....

Spoiler

....and now I can't go there without being attacked. Apparently this is unavoidable which is a little disappointing. What is the point of character attribute checks if it doesn't matter and the results will be the same no matter what? So I ended up killing every one in that gang in that section of Paradis. I'd rather not have checks like that if the outcome is already determined.

If you talk to thalla beforehand, he'll tell you not to interfere with their business, pretty much warning you that as soon as you start talking you're gonna have to fight; the checks given do serve to make two of them go away and not be hostile, perhaps they show up again somewhere later.

 

[Topher]

If you talk to thalla beforehand, he'll tell you not to interfere with their business, pretty much warning you that as soon as you start talking you're gonna have to fight; the checks given do serve to make two of them go away and not be hostile, perhaps they show up again somewhere later.

True. So not completely pointless.

 

[Gonzito]

Yeah this game is good. The gameplay is fun and the world exploration is so good, I think this is their best work yet in that regard. If this game had more depth in the writing and quest design like Baldurs Gate 3 for example, it would be a instant classic

I am still in the second map taking my time. I want to continue with KCD2 as well because I was having a blast too but I don't have enough time for the love of god.

First world problems papitos

This game needs a photo mode

Yeah, its weird that an Unreal engine game doesn't have photo mode

 

[Orbital2060]

The stamina bar and how it works reminds me of Dark Souls.

 

[Fess]

I actually feel like the heavy story elements hurts Avowed. I'm just not vibing with anything other than combat and exploration. Really high fantasy stuff like this doesn't interest me in general, tbf. I would probably prefer if Avowed was just a straight up action RPG like Elden Ring, especially with its lack of RPG depth. Elden Rings story is non-existent but it's world building is S tier. It's just done through it's fantastic art direction and music

I’m too early in the game to have an opinion on heavy story elements but so far I can agree that the action and exploration and traversal is where it shines. In general it just feels surprisingly nice to play.
The static nature of it all is a disappointment though from someone deep into Bethesda’s games.

 

[Raven117]

I find the combat very sluggish and unresponsive here at the opening area.

Am I taking crazy pills?

Does it get better?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Did anyone turn off quest markers?

It was getting annoying while exploring, always pointing towards quest while exploring. Now it shows quest markers only when I open the map. So much better.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I find the combat very sluggish and unresponsive here at the opening area.

Am I taking crazy pills?

Does it get better?

Thats how its gonna be.

Its still no action game.

I was expecting it to be much worse though.